Display card carrier



June 11, 1968 R. E. MERRITT ET AL 3,387,395

DISPLAY CARD CARRIER INVENTORS'.

527- 5. MERE/7'7 and WARREN C. /V/CH01 S wwybg www ATTORNEYS Filed'April 1, 1966 United States Patent 3,387,395 DISPLAY CARD CARRIERRobert E. Merritt and Warren C. Nichols, Mount Airy, N.C., assignors toRenfro-Hosiery Mills Company, Mount Airy, N.C., a corporation of NorthCarolina Filed Apr. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 539,479 7 Claims. (Cl. 40-102)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A display card carrier including twocoextensive spaced, U-shaped guideways with a handle convenientlylocated between the guideways for supporting a plurality of displaycards in a balanced condition during transportation. The position of thehandle between the guideways also permits the carrier to be lifted byone hand when the cards are in a displayed condition.

This invention relates to portable carriers and more specifically to aportable carrier for supporting and displaying a plurality of cardsthereon.

In business sales operations, since products of a line are often shownand sold by traveling sales representatives, it is highly desirable forsuch representatives to be able to present to the customer in a quick,easy manner, an attractive display of the product line. Quite often,products are bulky and difiicult to carry and, as a consequence, consumeexcess space when packaged in conventional carrying devices such assuitcases, briefcases, boxes, and the like. Additionally, when productsmust be packaged for transportation in this way, a delay is encounteredwhen arranging the products in a suitable manner for display to acustomer.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a novelportable carrier for supporting products and forming therewith a displaycase for quickly showing the products to a customer in an attractive,arranged manner which case is easy to hand carry when traveling fromcustomer to customer.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a novelportable card display case composed of a carrier having a pair ofsubstantially coextensive, spaced, U- shaped guideways supporting aplurality of display cards thereon and interconnected by means having ahandle located thereon in such a way that the cards are easilytransported and may be manipulated on the guideways to display theircontents without removing them from the carrier.

Some of the objects of the invention have been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a portable card display caseincorporating the novel features of the present invention shown in thenormal closed position for carry- FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of thedisplay case shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the display case of FIGURE 1 shown inan open, display position; and

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the carrier portion of the display caseof FIGURE 1 shown with the cards removed.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a portable card display case comprising acarrier 11 is shown having a plurality of display cards 12 attachedthereto. The carrier is composed of a pair of spaced, substantiallycoextensive, elongated U-shaped guideways 13, 14 which have opposed runs13a, 13b and 14a, 14b, respectively. Guideways 13 3,387,395 PatentedJune 11, 1968 and 14 are rigidly attached to each other by connectingmeans composed of a pair of suitably bent rods 15, 15a which areattached to and extend from the ends of runs 14a and 13a, respectively,and a handle 16 interconnecting the rods. As seen in FIGURE 3, rods 15and 15a are bent adjacent the ends of runs 13a and 14a to form L- shapedfootrests 17 and 18, which will be discussed hereinafter. The rods havesubstantially parallel straight portions 19, 19a which extend from thefootrests toward the closed ends of the guideways and position handle16, attached thereto, approximately midway of the length of the guidewayruns.

The L-shaped footrests have corresponding reaches 17a and 18a which areattached to and extend inwardly from the ends of runs 13a and 14a,respectively, and reaches 17b and 1812 which are attached to reaches 17aand 18a and extend at right angles therefrom in. the general directionof runs 13b, 14b. Retaining means, shown as a pair of threaded knobs 20,20a engage threaded ends of runs 14b and 13b, respectively, to removablysecure the cards on the guideways. As best seen in FIGURE 4, the knobslie in a common plane with footrests 17 and 18 and cooperate therewithto support the carrier in an erect position with the guideway runssubstantially vertical when the display case is open, as seen in FIGURE3. Footrest portions 17 and 18 also act as card stop means to preventmovement of the cards past the ends of guide way runs 13a and 14a.

In FIGURES 1 and 2, the card display case is shown in a closed conditionwith the carrier in a horizontal position and all of the cards 12 spacedclosely along and supported by lower runs 13b, 14b of the guideways.Cards 12 are provided with guideway receiving means or eyelets 21located adjacent an edge of each card. The cards are maintained in thisposition with the display case closed by suitable fastening means shownas a strap 22 suitably secured to outermost or distal of cards 12 bysnaps 23. The length of the strap preferably corresponds to the distancebetween snaps on distal cards when the cards are in contiguous, side byside relation as shown. The handle 16 is preferably located, as shown,substantially midway along the length of the guideway runs. Bypositioning the handle 16 at this location, which approximatelycoincides with the center of gravity of the display case, the case ismore stable and can be more readily carried without off-balance of thecards.

FIGURE 3 shows the portable card display case of the present inventionin an open condition whereby the cards and their contents can bedisplayed. For display, the case is normally placed on a flat surfacewith the ends of the guideways lowermost in contact with the surface. Inthis position, footrests 17 and 18 cooperate with knobs 20, 20a on theends of runs 14b and 13b to maintain the carrier erect and the runs in asubstantially vertical position. As can be seen, by releasing strap 22from one of the distal cards, the respective faces of the cards can beviewed by slidably moving the cards, in sequence, along the runs ofguideways 13, 14. For purposes of illustration, samples S of a hosieryproduct line are shown in broken lines attached to the opposite faces ofthe cards 12 and FIGURE 3 illustrates the ease with which the hoisierymay be displayed.

It is to be noted that the location of handle 16 on the carrier enablesthe display case to be easily moved from position to position when thecase is open. As seen in FIGURE 3, handle 16 readily can be gripped andthe case entirely supported by hand while displaying the cards therein.Additionally, location of handle 16 between guideway 13 and 14 and in aplane passing between the opposed runs of each guideway allows the cardsto be slidably manipulated on the carrier for display withoutinterference with the handle.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A carrier adapted for supporting and displaying a plurality of cards,said carrier comprising a pair of spaced, substantially coextensiveU-shaped guideways, for slidably supporting cards thereon and havingcorresponding pairs of ends, each of said guideways comprising opposedruns, means associated with one pair of ends of said guideways forremovably retaining cards on said guideways, a handle located betweensaid guideways and between said opposed runs thereof, and meansconnecting said handle to said guideways.

2. A carrier according to claim 1 wherein said handle is locatedsubstantially midway of the length of the runs of said guideways to thusposition the handle substantially centrally of the carrier to facilitatetransportation of said carrier.

3. A portable card display case comprising, in combination, a cardcarrier and a plurality of cards supported thereby, said carriercomprising a pair of spaced, substantially coextensive U-shapedguideways having corresponding pairs of ends, said cards beingpositioned on said guideways for slidable movement therealong, each ofsaid guideways comprising opposed runs, means associated with one pairof ends of said guideways removably retaining said cards on saidguideways, a handle, and means connecting said handle to said guideways,said handle and said connecting means being located between saidguideways and between said opposed runs thereof and so posi- 4- tionedrelative to said opposed runs thereof to permit said cards to be freelymovable throughout the extent of said guideways.

4. A display case according to claim 3 wherein said handle is locatedsubstantially midway of the length of the runs of said guideways to thusposition the handle substantially centrally of the carrier to facilitatetransportation of said display case.

5. A display case as defined in claim 3 including fastening meansassociated with said cards for maintaining said display case closed withsaid cards in close association to each other.

6. A display case as defined in claim 5 in which said fastening meansincludes a strap attached to distal cards of said plurality of cards.

7. A display case as defined in claim 3 wherein said connecting meansincludes footrests for supporting the carrier in an erect position inwhich said opposed runs of the guideways are substantially vertical withsaid ends of the guideways lowermost, and wherein said means removablyretaining said cards terminates in a common plane with said footrests toaid in maintaining said carrier in said erect position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 414,794 11/1889 Clifford 129-82,892,269 6/1958 Pospiszel 22445 X 3,246,411 4/1966 Aafedt 401O2 EUGENER. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner. W. J. CONTRERAS, Examiner.

